Neil Lennon trains with the Celtic squad to keep himself fit but he would have
been excused breathlessness when he surveyed the year about to end.

In 2012 he supervised his 100th game as a manager (against Caley Thistle on Feb 11) and his 100th victory (against Hearts on Nov 28), won his first title at Kilmarnock and remedied Celtic's lamentable ability to win successive European away games, en route to a Champions League group stage campaign that saw Barcelona overthrown as the Hoops booked a place in the last 16 of the tournament.

In addition, there was grief at the death of his close friend, Paul McBride QC and, more prosaically, defeat by Kilmarnock in the Scottish Communities League Cup final and by Hearts in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals, plus the remarkable statistic of the worst SPL start since 1998.

Asked if there had been any opportunity to reflect on the events of yet another enormously eventful year, both for him and for Scottish football, Lennon replied: “No. January’s coming and I’ll be away watching players.

“I’m hoping to get a week away with the family but even then I might have to go and watch games while I’m away. Even when you’re on holiday, the chief executive rings every day - ‘What about this player? What about that player? Can we get this contract signed?’

“Maybe what I’ve got to learn is how to deconstruct the week a little bit better, deconstruct the year a little bit better and try to find some time to get away from the club and the football side of things, but I love it. I do enjoy it and it really does keep you ticking over at times.

“You don’t have time to reflect in this job. You sit on it for a day or two and then you go again. It’s one of those years where you don’t want it to end, really, and it’ll be quite poignant when it does end, in terms of what we’ve achieved - winning the championship and then obviously the titanic games in the Champions League. I’ve really, really enjoyed it but you always worry about what’s ahead of you.”

Having recently expressed concern about the impact on his players of a prolonged campaign on four fronts, Lennon revealed his desire to find a way to detach himself from the ceaseless pressure of high-profile football management.

“I keep myself healthy even if it does not look like it,” he said. “I train two or three times a week - not heavily, but I keep myself ticking over - but the (lack of) private time wears on you and your weekends are a non-event in that respect.

“During the week there are other things to deal with and I accept that as the role of a manager at a big club. I’m going down to a football forum next month at St George’s Park and it will be interesting to see how managers separate themselves from the job at times.

“That will be one of the issues I will touch on with them. Sir Alex is heading it and Howard Wilkinson is involved. The League Managers Association is running it and it’s a three-day conference.

“I think it will be beneficial for me to go and bounce a few ideas off people and pick things up as I go along. I’ve been invited down so I’m delighted to go.”

More immediately, Celtic have two fixtures against sides immediately below them in the table – away to Hibernian on Saturday and home to Motherwell on Jan 2. Should they win both and if Caley Thistle stumble in their games away to St Johnstone and Ross County, Lennon’s players could well have a double figure points lead going into the break.

While most managers would be entirely happy to saunter off with a title, Lennon wants a sprint from here to the finishing line. “We have 40 points at the moment, after 19 games. If you use that as a guide to the second half of the season, you will end up with 80 and for me, that’s nowhere near good enough.

“Our previous two totals have been 92 and 93, so with 19 games left, that is 57 points to play for. If they won every game that would take it to 97, so the motivation is not to drop five points and try and end up the same total as the last two seasons.”

Hibs are hardly the epitome of resistance at the moment, having taken only four points from a possible 21 in their last seven outings. “A lot of teams in the SPL roller coaster a bit. If Hibs finish in the top six, that, for me, is significant progress, compared to last year,” said Lennon.

Charlie Mulgrew, James Forrest, Kris Commons, Joe Ledley, Adam Matthews and Anthony Stokes are all ruled out for Celtic, but for Hibs, Tim Clancy, Gary Deegan and James McPake have all returned to action.

McPake, the Hibs captain, said: “Celtic are the best team in the country. On their day they can be frightening but we proved when we drew at Celtic Park that we can match them.

“Our biggest problem will be which Hibs team turns up. If we play the way we played earlier in the season then it should be a good game."